There are 30 AAA franchises, just like there are 30 MLB franchises. You can't create a new AAA team out of thin air because there cannot be more AAA teams than MLB teams. You need to move one of the existing 30. You get to take your affiliated players wherever your team is, but you need league approval to put a team somewhere. So just like the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals, the Richmond Braves became the Gwinnett Braves. So which city loses its AAA team in your scenario?

So again, which AAA team would you propose to move, and how would you do it? (Note that step 1 would require buying a team, so which one is for sale to a buyer that had the intention of moving it?)

So again, which AAA team would you propose to move, and how would you do it? (Note that step 1 would require buying a team, so which one is for sale to a buyer that had the intention of moving it?)

Lotta horse trading. That's a PCL team, so you're either trying to move a PCL franchise to the Atlantic coast, or you're pushing for a realignment.

right now, the leagues are 15/15. I don't think they do interleague, so that means an idle team every night like it was in MLB before the Astros move. Why not go 16/14 and buy/move Vegas? If no one really wants to be there, then you'd think moving it might be possible. Why not a straight swap of Richmond and Vegas? Is there an AA league Vegas (Former Richmond) could join?

right now, the leagues are 15/15. I don't think they do interleague, so that means an idle team every night like it was in MLB before the Astros move. Why not go 16/14 and buy/move Vegas? If no one really wants to be there, then you'd think moving it might be possible. Why not a straight swap of Richmond and Vegas? Is there an AA league Vegas (Former Richmond) could join?

Is there anything stopping them from setting up Richmond as an expansion team?

right now, the leagues are 15/15. I don't think they do interleague, so that means an idle team every night like it was in MLB before the Astros move. Why not go 16/14 and buy/move Vegas? If no one really wants to be there, then you'd think moving it might be possible. Why not a straight swap of Richmond and Vegas? Is there an AA league Vegas (Former Richmond) could join?

right now, the leagues are 15/15. I don't think they do interleague, so that means an idle team every night like it was in MLB before the Astros move. Why not go 16/14 and buy/move Vegas? If no one really wants to be there, then you'd think moving it might be possible. Why not a straight swap of Richmond and Vegas? Is there an AA league Vegas (Former Richmond) could join?

They're 16/14 at present, and there's no AA anywhere close to Vegas - as in, the closest team is Midland, which is almost exactly 800 miles away. That's a total non-starter. A buy/move of Vegas might work, but you'd need to swap the 16/14 the other way and find a landing city. Best candidates to be the second team to move to the IL from the PCL would be Nashville.

Of course, my preferred solution would be to move the Orioles to Vegas and move the Nats AAA to Baltimore, but Donald Trump will have a normal haircut and Stevie Wonder will be a pilot before that happens.

Is there anything stopping them from setting up Richmond as an expansion team?

Yes. There are already 30 AAA teams. There can't be more AAA teams than major league teams. That and there's already a AA team in Richmond that occupies the only viable stadium and is signed through 2020 with the Giants.

You'd think they could split a stadium with UVa. how big is UVa's stadium? Are they looking for an upgrade?

It's a tad over 5,000 right now, and it's actually being renovated and expanded right now (as in, it's under construction right now). Capacity will increase modestly, but not up to AAA size. It's also owned by UVA, and Charlottesville really isn't an ideal option for a minor league team - virtually the entire season happens when the city is missing 20,000 people or so. A-ball maybe - but again, you'd need to cut a deal with UVA to use Davenport, which would be fantastic by the standards of the Carolina League.

They're 16/14 at present, and there's no AA anywhere close to Vegas - as in, the closest team is Midland, which is almost exactly 800 miles away. That's a total non-starter.

Yes. There are already 30 AAA teams. There can't be more AAA teams than major league teams. That and there's already a AA team in Richmond that occupies the only viable stadium and is signed through 2020 with the Giants.

It's a tad over 5,000 right now, and it's actually being renovated and expanded right now (as in, it's under construction right now). Capacity will increase modestly, but not up to AAA size. It's also owned by UVA, and Charlottesville really isn't an ideal option for a minor league team - virtually the entire season happens when the city is missing 20,000 people or so. A-ball maybe - but again, you'd need to cut a deal with UVA to use Davenport, which would be fantastic by the standards of the Carolina League.

It could work for a year, though. If they were able to come to an agreement with Richmond for after 2020, it might be an option. There would have to be a restructuring of sorts if that were to happen. Purchasing and moving Vegas or something like that. Nashville might have to jump to the IL, perhaps. It will be interesting to see how things play out, because I can't imagine they'd want anything to do with Vegas.

Also, Omaha's stadium only has 6400 permanent seats. Don't think that size of park would be a hindrance for a temporary solution. The pics I'm seeing of the UVA construction project look pretty similar to Werner Park.

Tampa's contract with Durham is only through 2018. Is there any way that that could somehow work for the Nats. The Bulls have been with Tampa for like 20 years, so I imagine they are happy and might not want to move, but Durham would be perfect I would think. Storied minor league team that can support itself, good distance from the Nats, etc. I'd see it as similar to the relationship that the Tigers have with Toledo.

It could work for a year, though. If they were able to come to an agreement with Richmond for after 2020, it might be an option. There would have to be a restructuring of sorts if that were to happen. Purchasing and moving Vegas or something like that. Nashville might have to jump to the IL, perhaps. It will be interesting to see how things play out, because I can't imagine they'd want anything to do with Vegas.

Also, Omaha's stadium only has 6400 permanent seats. Don't think that size of park would be a hindrance for a temporary solution. The pics I'm seeing of the UVA construction project look pretty similar to Werner Park.

Would need to be 2 years, but yes, it could - if UVA were to agree. I suspect the IL would also want a bunch of money spent on the stadium in Richmond (or a new one) as well. That's a lot of effort, though - suspect they might be willing to take 2 years with Vegas and then try to do better in the next round of musical chairs, or try actually making a decent offer to Nashville to switch from the A's. That's a short-term arrangement, so it might be doable.

The Chiefs were locally owned. Reading the local stories, it seemed like the state government helped with the deal. I'm guessing this was in the works for awhile. It would be nice if the Learners would learn the lesson, it seems like a large number of aaa affiliates are owned by their teams and play local to those teams.